The US Supreme Court has ruled that Donald Trump, as a former president, enjoys some immunity from prosecution, a ruling that may delay his trial for conspiring to overturn the 2020 US presidential election.
The court extended the delay in the criminal case against Mr Trump on charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 election loss, all but ending prospects the former president could be put on trial before the 2024 election on 5 November.
In a historic 6-3 ruling, the justices said for the first time that former US presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for their official acts and no immunity for unofficial or private acts.
However, the Supreme Court justices ordered lower courts to work out precisely how to apply the decision to Mr Trump's case.
The outcome means additional delay before Mr Trump could face trial in the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
Mr Trump hailed the ruling as a "big win" for democracy.
"Big win for our constitution and democracy. Proud to be an American!" Mr Trump posted in all caps on his Truth Social platform.
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Trump 'think's he's above law' - Biden campaign
Joe Biden's reelection campaign team slammed Mr Trump following the ruling, saying the former president "think's he's above the law".
"Donald Trump snapped after he lost the 2020 election and encouraged a mob to overthrow the results," the Biden campaign said.
"He thinks he's above the law and is willing to do anything to gain and hold onto power for himself," it added.
The Supreme Court directed US district judge Tanya Chutkan to assess whether core aspects of the indictment are official acts and therefore shielded from immunity or are not official acts and therefore potentially subject to prosecution.
Those include, among other things, Mr Trump's hectoring of then-vice president Mike Pence not to certify the electoral votes - a core feature of the four-count indictment.
The Supreme Court that heard the case included three justices appointed by Mr Trump - Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh - and two justices who opted not to step aside after questions were raised about their impartiality.
The three liberal justices - Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson - all dissented from the majority opinion.
In her dissent, Ms Sotomayor wrote: "Today's decision to grant former presidents criminal immunity reshapes the institution of the presidency.
"It makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our constitution and system of government, that no man is above the law."
The Republican former president has denied doing anything wrong and has said this prosecution and three others are politically motivated to try to keep him from returning to the White House.
Mr Trump, 78, is the first former US president to be criminally prosecuted as well as the first former president convicted of a crime.
Read more: Takeaways from US Supreme Court ruling on Trump immunity
In the special counsel's August 2023 indictment, Mr Trump was charged with conspiring to defraud the United States, corruptly obstructing an official proceeding and conspiring to do so, and conspiring against the right of Americans to vote.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Mr Trump's trial had been scheduled to start on 5 March before the delays over the immunity issue.
Now, no trial date is set.
Mr Trump made his immunity claim to the trial judge in October, meaning the issue has been litigated for about nine months.
In a separate case brought in New York state court, Mr Trump was found guilty by a jury in Manhattan on 30 May on 34 counts of falsifying documents to cover up hush money paid to an adult film actress to avoid a scandal before the 2016 election.
Mr Trump also faces criminal charges in two other cases.
He has pleaded not guilty in those and called all the cases against him politically motivated.
Additional reporting: AFP, Reuters
